Britain's oldest couple celebrates 79 years of marriage

A British couple, who grew up in the same street and began courting when they were 14, have broken a national record by celebrating their 79th wedding anniversary, media reports said.

Anne and Bert Ivison, both 96, were due to mark the anniversary by holding a small party in their retirement home in the north-western city of Liverpool, where they grew up and went to the same primary school and where they married on March 1, 1924.

Asked what was the secret of a happy marriage, Mrs Ivison said her advice was not to let one person be the boss in the relationship.

"You should both be level," she said.

The pair have outlived their three children, but have four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Mrs Ivison still wears a gold bracelet her husband gave her when the pair first started dating at 14.

Records show the longest-ever marriage in Britain lasted 82 years and the longest in the world lasted 86 years.

But the Guinness Book of Records currently lists the longest ongoing marriage in Britain as 78 years.